A United Airlines plane sits on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport.
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United Airlines on Tuesday mapped out one other expansion of Asia flights in the approaching months, a part of its push to capitalize on a boom in long-haul international travel that has helped drive airlines back to profitability after the Covid-19 pandemic.
International travel bookings surged this 12 months, airline executives have said, as travelers seek long-distance trips they postpone through the pandemic amid an online of travel restrictions and concerns in regards to the virus. Airlines have been beefing up their schedules in response.
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“On the whole, the Pacific is as strong if not stronger than the Atlantic is today,” Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vp of worldwide network planning and alliances, told reporters. United announced latest flights to Latest Zealand and Australia in April.
Starting Oct. 29, United will fly each day nonstop flights between San Francisco and Manila, becoming the one U.S. airline to supply nonstop service to the Philippine capital from the continental U.S. It is going to use its largest aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER, for the route.
The carrier may also add a second nonstop flight between San Francisco and Taipei, Taiwan, also starting Oct. 29, and it plans to resume service to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport from Los Angeles along with flights between Los Angeles and the more city-centric Haneda International Airport.
Quayle said Tokyo flights have been in high demand since Japan lifted travel restrictions earlier this 12 months.
China service still challenged
Still, there are constraints to United’s growth in China, including Russian airspace restrictions. Quayle said consequently, United won’t resume other routes like Latest Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport to Hong Kong. The airline will offer Los Angeles-to-Hong Kong flights, nevertheless, bringing its each day nonstop service to Hong Kong to 3 flights a day including flights from San Francisco.
He said United and other airlines are in communication with the U.S. government about negotiations with Chinese counterparts on adding back service.
There are 312 flights scheduled between the U.S. and China between June and the top of August this 12 months, down from greater than 4,800 in 2019, in response to aviation data firm Cirium.
As of the upcoming winter, United’s trans-Pacific flying might be about flat compared with 2019, but about 40% larger when stripping out China service, a spokeswoman said.
International at Newark
United is weighing schedule cuts at its Newark hub because it grapples with bad summer weather, congestion and a shortage of air traffic controllers in the world. Nonetheless, Quayle said that will not affect international service.
“What our goal is is to operate a reliable consistent operation globally from Newark,” he said. “We’re not going to in the reduction of from the international, but we obviously will make some changes.”
United is scheduled to report quarterly results after the market closes on Wednesday. Executives are prone to outline changes that they are considering at Newark during a conference call Thursday morning at 10:30 ET.
